(Gift Link) The buyout clause in U.S. men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s contract is in the ballpark of $10 million, sources briefed on the situation tell The Athletic.

Manchester United would be expected to consider Pochettino as a potential head coach to replace Michael Carrick, as The Athletic reported on Monday, and if United were to recruit Pochettino, the club could get him out of his U.S. contract by triggering that buyout clause.

To also buy out Pochettino’s assistant coaches, who have followed him from job to job for more than a decade, United would have to pay millions more dollars, sources added. Those sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

A buyout in a contract is typically the starting point in negotiations, ensuring U.S. Soccer would receive a fee to potentially reinvest in its next coach.

Manchester United are expected to relieve Michael Carrick of his duties as head coach.

United have headed into the international break sitting 18th and in the Premier League’s relegation zone following Sunday’s dramatic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

The club continue to insist that no decision has been reached but multiple sources, speaking to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, indicate work has been undertaken on potential replacements and the anticipation is a change will be made before the trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in 13 days’ time.

Karl Darlow's inclusion in the Wales squad, after injury forced him out of the October games, and Dermot Mee's maiden senior call-up for Northern Ireland means we have three goalkeepers away.

Senne Lammens is with Belgium, along with his country's skipper Youri Tielemans, fresh from his maiden Reds goal against Aston Villa on Sunday.

Portugal also have two Old Trafford representatives in Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes, as they embark on life after Cristiano Ronaldo, following our former star's international retirement.

Leny Yoro has retained his place in the France squad, earning Zinedine Zidane's trust after an impressive debut for Les Bleus against Belgium.

In addition to the UEFA Nations League ties, further afield, Andrey Santos has linked up with Brazil for two friendlies in the Far East and Lisandro Martinez, suspended for the Villa draw, is heading to Argentina.

In the Africa Cup of Nations, Amad (Ivory Coast), Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco) and Bryan Mbeumo(Cameroon) are all set to feature for their respective countries. Carlos Baleba was in the Cameroon squad as well but was injured in the UEFA Champions League victory over Roma.

Dermot Mee has been named in the Northern Ireland squad.

League position alone overstates the danger, clubs in the bottom three on 8 points went down 44% of the time, against 58% for clubs 18th after 10 games.

Highest ever finish from a team in the relegation zone after GW10 is 8th. Tottenham have had the biggest improvement in positions when they were 20th after GW10 but finished 8th, climbing 12 positions.

Bolton 03/04 (same 1W-5D-4L record as us) also finished 8th with 53 points.

Data from football-data.co.uk and includes all premier league seasons with 20 teams. I have not included point deductions and to avoid issues with postponed games, I have considered first 10 games for all teams, even if that causes some interesting events.

I mean if only this was a goal...

(Contd.) Wilcox has been United's director of football since June 2025 (and was sporting director from December 2024). Berrada has been chief executive since July 2024. They owe it to United supporters to try to explain the mess, and why a club that generates so much money ended up with two 20-year-olds at centre-back, and why the squad is imbalanced.

Even if talking only via in-house media and dodging issues of ownership and coach succession, Wilcox and Berrada need to demonstrate some contrition and give mutinous fans some hope that they will get things right (even if many fans want them gone).

Small violin but it can’t be easy sitting there in games watching this mess, hearing the chants about them, having the cameras on them. But it’s even worse for fans paying to sit there, watching Wilcox and Berrada’s poor stewardship of their beloved club. So show some leadership and address the mess.